Around 11 pm last night, a high stakes bidding war broke out over Jackie, Chilean director Pablo Larraín’s well-received biopic of the 35th First Lady in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination starring a top-of-her-game Natalie Portman. A few pundits rightly predicted that Fox Searchlight would have a higher stake in it, considering they tried to finance it way back in the day and are looking for a backup plan after the Birth of a Nation fiasco. As it turns out, those pundits were right, and Jackie will now be making an effort to f*ck up my Oscar predictions.
The film has been scheduled for an incredibly Oscar-friendly December 9th release date. Portman has received raves for her performance, with many saying it’s one of her best alongside Black Swan, and some saying it’s better than Black Swan. Personally, I’m excited for the film, as it sounds like a great showcase, but I can’t help but be a little annoyed. Finding distribution at Toronto for a late-breaking Oscar push was a strategy that paid off for Julianne Moore back when she made Still Alice, but there were only three potential nominees that year, and no clear frontrunner. This year we have four frontrunners and seven potential nominees, and that’s a generous estimate. It makes predicting this race absolutely impossible. However, I really can’t complain too much-there are rarely any opportunities for women the way this year has provided, so I suppose encouragement is in order to get Hollywood to change their ways.
You can watch a clip of Portman’s supposedly incredible performance below, but I must warn you: while she looks strikingly similar to Kennedy Onasis, her accent is similar enough to pass, but just off enough to annoy you. Watch below, and look for Portman’s name come awards season.
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